1603456 (Refugee)

The applicant sought judicial review of a decision by the Migration and Refugee Division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The dispute concerned the timeliness of the applicant's application for review of a decision made by the Department.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the applicant's application for review was lodged within the prescribed time limit. This required the court to determine the date on which the applicant was deemed to have been notified of the Department's decision, and consequently, the date on which the time for lodging an application for review expired.

The court found that a letter notifying the applicants of the decision was posted to their authorised recipient on the same day it was dated, [September] 2014, to the address provided for receiving documents under section 494B of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). Pursuant to sections 494C and 494D(2) of the Act, notification was therefore deemed to have occurred on [date] September 2014. The prescribed 28-day period for lodging a review application expired on [date] October 2014. As the application for review was received by the Tribunal on 15 March 2016, it was lodged outside the statutory time limit. The court noted that the Migration and Refugee Division has no discretion to extend this time limit.

The Tribunal does not have jurisdiction in this matter.